Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1887-02-25
CONVICTION AND SENTENCE OF EDWARD
UhGER.
Especial to the Bait. SUM-


NEW York, Feb. 20.-Judge
Barrett is a great criminal judge,
and miserable is the guilty man
who is tried before him. Without
saying or doing anything that can
be overrued by the Court of APP.
peals, he usually succeeds in max
ing the jury understand what its
duty is. But for Judge Barrett it
is not unlikely that Capt. Unger,
who killed August BOhle, mutilat-
ed his remains and shipped them
in a trunk to fictitious address in
Baltimore, would have been acquit-
ted. The Judge believed him to be
guilty, and to him is due the YER
dict of guilty of manslaughter in
the first degree, which was return
ed by the jury yesterday afternoon.
The verdict is a Just one. Not
wlthstanding that Judge Barrett
and others believe that UDger de-
served hanging, generalization does
not seem to have been proven, and
as the prisoner should receive the
benefit of a reasonable doubt, the
sentence of 20 years at hard labor
in the States prison imposed by
Judge Barrett under the verdict
seems fair and right. Whatever
sympathy with Unger could be en-.
tertalned after his horrible mutila-
ton of Bodies body was destroyed
by the evidence printed in Satur-
days SIM that Unger had been
dismissed from the Navy tor
theft.
In prOnouncing sentence Judge
Barrett said: "You may thank
the jury, Unger, for having taken
an exceedingly merciful view Ofyour
case. There was ample evidence
to Justify at least a verdict Of muir
der in the second degree. Your
whole course and conduct prove
beyond peradventure the absolute
falsehood of yourpretended defense
of self.delense. No man ever lived,
unless he was of the most ignorant
and besOtted kind, who, after hav-
ing killed a man as you said you
did, would have acted as though
he not only were guilty, bnt felt
that he was guilty in a most helm
Gus and shocking manner. Your
whole course from the time of the
killing indicated that you we're un-
der the sense Of remOrse for a crime
OF the most deadly and terrible
character. 1t was wholly incOn
sistent With the facts that you fOl
a moment supposed you we're limo
cent in the sense that you had kill
ed the deceased In self-defense
You waited-baving endeavOred tC
evade the law until the network
OF the law was around you. And
then you connected deliberately
this plea Of self-defcnse, which in
the end the jury has very properly
disregarded. Having disregarded
your plea and concluded that il
was false, the only question that
remained was whether you intend
ed to kill your victim or whether
you did it unIntentiOnally. The
evidence was ample to Justify the
/ Jury in finding that you did it in
tentiOnally. The jury, however, on
considering all the evidence, has
decided that you did not do it IN.
tentionally, and it is not the prov
/ ince OF the court to critlciSe the
verdict OF the jury, but to bow IN
submission to it. 1t is the solemn
| Judgment of twelve men who
have faithful considered the case
deliberately, and while, as | have
said before, another verdict of a
higher degree would have been
more satisfactory to the court, yet,
on the whole, | can find no fault
with the solemn judgment oftwelve
men in finding as they have. |
make these observations to show
that it would be utterly impossible
for the court to exercise any de-
gree of clemency under the law.
For, believing that you ought to
be immured for the period of your
natural life, it stands 20 reason
that ! cannot take anything from
extreme penalty OF the law for
manslaughter in the first degree.
The consideration that this long
sentence for manslaughter will
probably occupy the remainder OF
your natural life renders the end
of this deliberatiOn substantially
just. The Judgment Of the court,
therefore, is that you be imprlson-
ed in the State prison at hard la
hor for n nario1 Of twenty Vpars.O